Before they were lovers Remember the Dead
by Queen of Ruin
Summary: The day after Nephrite dies (in the original series)Usagi is upset and is comforted by her arch nemesis, Chiba Mamoru. One-shot. Part of the Before they were lovers series (the series has no particular order).


**(AN: This is the second of the 'before they were lovers' series. Please note that this series does not follow any particular order so you don't have to read them all in the order I wrote them. **

**This takes place the morning after Nephrite died in the original series.)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon. **

Mamoru woke up that morning like he did on any other day. He got up, brushed his teeth, and combed his hair, put on a white oxford shirt and a pair of khakis. He gathered up his books and got in the car to drive to his first class. As usual, he stopped off at the Crown café for a quick breakfast. He always got a discount there from Motoki and Unazuki. He walked up to the counter to order when, from the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a certain Odango-otama sitting by herself at a corner booth. She looked upset about something.

"Good morning Mamoru-san. The usual?" Unazuki asked him from the other side of the counter. Mamoru nodded. Unazuki turned to go and start making his usual toast and scrambled eggs.

Mamoru glanced over at Usagi again. She looked pathetic, just sitting there sipping a chocolate milkshake through a straw.

'_I wonder why she's not at school?'_ he thought. Curious, he walked over to her table.

"I've told you before, Odango, frowns don't suit you."

She looked up, surprised, then saw who it was and turned to look out the window.

"What do you want?" she asked coldly.

He shrugged, sitting down across from her.

"Just curious as to why you're not in school."

"Mama said I didn't have to go today."

"Uhuh, why is that?"

She looked over at him, suddenly angry.

"It's none of your business."

Mamoru held up his hands in defense. Usagi went back to staring out the window. Mamoru was just getting up to leave when he saw a single tear roll down her cheek. He sat down again and grabbed a napkin from the dispenser and handed it to her. She shoved the napkin away angrily brushing away the tear with her hand.

"C'mon Odango, what's going on?"

She looked at him suspiciously.

"Why do you care? I'm just clumsy, cry-baby Usagi with odango's on her head right?"

'_She's right. Why do I care?'_ Mamoru blushed and said with a slight tone of anger in his voice, "I just can't stand to see a girl cry even if I can't stand the girl." Usagi scoffed and stared out the window some more. Two minutes passed in silence. Unazuki brought Mamoru his breakfast and he started eating.

"So you're just going to eat that? Here? At **my** table?" Usagi asked.

"Why not?" he asked innocently, shrugging as he took a bite of toast.

"Humph." She said, crossing her arms. She started eyeing the scrambled eggs on his plate which he was currently pouring ketchup onto.

Mamoru noticed her eyeing it and said, "You want some don't you? Tell you what, I'll order up a plate for you if you tell me why you're so depressed."

Usagi rolled her eyes and looked away, but after a few minutes she found herself still staring at the eggs out of the corner of her eye. They did look pretty good. She hesitated at first but in the end, she couldn't resist the allure of scrambled eggs on toast.

"Ok," she said. Mamoru called Unazuki over and ordered a plate for Usagi. Unazuki gave Mamoru a questioning look but he ignored it.

Mamoru waited for Usagi to finish eating before he questioned her. He had seen her eat before but it never ceased to amaze him how quickly she could shove so much food into her stomach. By the time she had finished eating she was smiling again and seemed to have forgotten why she had been upset. Now this was the Usagi he knew. Always perky and always eating.

"Now, you have to fill your end of the bargain," he said. Her smile faded and he immediately wished he hadn't said it. He was just about to tell her that he took it back and she didn't have to say anything but she cut him off.

"You remember how I told you and Motoki about my friend Naru? And how she had fallen for a bad guy?" Mamoru nodded remembering how Usagi had been trying to flirt with Motoki but he had tagged along just to annoy Usagi. He would have chuckled but he was smart enough to know that now was not the time so he stayed silent. She continued. "Well, last night they got into a lot of trouble with the bad crowd that the guy hangs out with." She paused and had a sip of her milkshake. "Anyway, it didn't end too well. The people he works for forced him to leave," she was struggling to find the right words, and Mamoru sensed she wasn't telling him everything. "And even though I think he might really have loved Naru, he had to leave to protect her."

Usagi was shocked to see that Mamoru looked truly concerned. She obviously couldn't tell him anymore or he might suspect something.

"Anyway, Naru's not in school today either, she's so devastated," Usagi said. Now that Mamoru had forced her into talking about she couldn't seem to stop herself.

"The worst part is," Usagi continued, "Naru never even really knew who he was. She never believed that he was lying to her until the end, and she still loved him despite it all."

Mamoru was thinking about how lonely this girl must feel. After all, he knew a lot about being lonely, but his thoughts were interrupted when he saw that Usagi was trying hard not to cry.

'_Because of me,'_ he thought, _'she doesn't want to cry in front of me.'_

"Well Odango, personally, I can't believe it, I'm having an intelligent conversation with **you!**" He had meant for that to cheer her up but it seemed to do the exact opposite. He tried a different approach.

"Sorry. How about, to make up for being an insensitive jerk, I'll buy us both chocolate parfaits."

That did it. Upon hearing the words 'chocolate parfait' Usagi burst into the tears that she couldn't hold back any longer.

**Flashback:**

_The sailor senshi had arrived in time to save Naru but it was too late for Nephrite. _

"_I don't think we'll get to eat a chocolate parfait together," Nephrite had told Naru as he lay in her arms. _

"_No!" Naru cried with tears dripping fast down her face. Nephrite held out his hand and cupped her cheek in it and smiled at her. It was that moment that Usagi realized that he may have truly loved Naru. _

"_I have ended up lying to you until the very end. Please forgive me. I'm glad I met you," he said to Naru as he too bean to cry. And then his eyes closed._

"_Nephrite-sama," Naru whispered just as his body started turning to dust. _

"_NO! You can't! You promised! You said we'd have a chocolate parfait together!" She screamed at the dust that had once been her Nephrite as it floated into the air. _

"_NO!" she screamed, wrapping her arms around herself. _

_Usagi felt horrible as she could do nothing but watch as her best friend experienced the greatest pain in the world; the death of a loved one._

**End Flashback.**

People had started to stare at Usagi who continued to cry as she remembered the events of the night before. Mamoru slid over to her side of the table and once more offered her the napkin from before. This time she took it and wiped her face dry.

'_Why in the world is he being so nice to me! _Usagi thought as an almost identical thought passed through Mamoru's mind. As soon as it did, Mamoru immediately became rather flustered and blushed. He moved back to his side of the booth.

"Look Odango, I have to go or I'll miss my class. You should go to school. Take care of your friend." He threw some money onto the table for the eggs and turned and walked away. Usagi stared after him in shock. He had been being so nice and then all of a sudden his mood had changed and he'd become the regular cold Mamoru again.

She finished her chocolate shake and thought to herself, _'That was weird… but still…I hope I get to see more of his good side.'_ And with that she got up with renewed courage, and walked over to Naru's house to help in every way she possibly could.

**(That's it. Just a one-shotter this time. I will be writing at least one more in the 'before they were lovers' series. The ending is kind of abrupt. I need to work on that. Look forward to the next (possibly final) installment of 'Before they were lovers' and please review!)**


End file.
